A preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific manuscript that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed journal; it is typically the version submitted to a publisher for acceptance.
Preprints are increasingly distributed electronically online via openly-accessible platforms, commonly referred to as preprint servers. Preprint servers provide authors with a means to disseminate their manuscript in a shorter timeframe than that of a peer-reviewed journal. Authors may be able to obtain feedback prior to peer review and communicate with peers working in similar fields. Because preprint servers usually assign persistent identifiers to each submission, these works can be citable and persistent. . Some publishers are also clarifying 'prior publication' policies to allow preprints to be openly disseminated without harming formal publication downstream.
The following is an overview of some of the most common preprint servers, arranged according to the discipline they cover:
Preprint Server |
URL |
Discipline |
|---|---|---|
| arXiv.org | https://arxiv.org/ | Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance and Statistics |
| bioRxiv | https://www.biorxiv.org/ | Biological and Chemical Sciences |
| ChemRxiv | https://chemrxiv.org/ | Chemistry |
| EarthArXiv | https://eartharxiv.org/ | Earth Sciences |
| engrXiv | https://engrxiv.org/ | Engineering |
| ESSOAr | https://www.essoar.org/ | Earth and Space Science |
| PeerJ Preprints | https://peerj.com/about/preprints/what-is-a-preprint/ | Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Medical Sciences, Health Sciences and Computer Sciences |
| Preprints.org | https://www.preprints.org/ | Multidisciplinary |
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